I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4243 

To improve Federal disaster relief and emergency assistance, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2015 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Mr. REICHERT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To improve Federal disaster relief and emergency assistance, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Individual Assistance 

5 Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF 

7 AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE. 

8 (a) REPORT ON SMALL STATE AND RURAL AREA AS9 SISTANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Dec 15, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4243.IH H4243

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1 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen2 cy shall submit to Congress a report with recommenda3 tions for improving Federal assistance, with respect to 

4 small States and rural areas, under the Robert T. Stafford 

5 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 5121 et seq.). The report shall include an identification 

7 of additional resources required for recommended im8 provements. 

9 (b) FACTORS FOR INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE PRO10 GRAM.—In measuring the severity, magnitude, and impact 

11 of a disaster and evaluating the need for assistance to in12 dividuals under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

13 Emergency Assistance Act, the Administrator shall not 

14 apply, with respect to a rural area, the factor set out in 

15 section 206.48(b)(1) of title 44, Code of Federal Regula16 tions (relating to the concentration of damages). 

17 (c) RELEASE OF DOCUMENTATION RELATED TO DIS18 ASTER DECLARATION DECISIONS.—Not later than 25 

19 days after a Governor, or Chief Executive of an Indian 

20 tribal government, requests documentation related to a 

21 major disaster declaration decision under section 401 of 

22 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As23 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), the Administrator shall 

24 provide the Governor, or Chief Executive, with all such 

25 documentation, including— 


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1 (1) an analysis of the factors that the Federal 

2 Emergency Management Agency considered in mak3 ing the decision, including any threshold, limit, or 

4 average that the Agency applied; and 

5 (2) a rationale explaining the decision. 

6 (d) STUDY ON DAMAGE ASSESSMENT.— 

7 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall conduct a comprehensive review 

9 of— 

10 (A) the damage assessment processes of 

11 the Agency with respect to major disaster dec12 larations; and 

13 (B) the teams that carry out such proc14 esses. 

15 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp17 troller General shall submit to Congress a report on 

18 the results of the review conducted under paragraph 

19 (1), including recommendations for improving such 

20 processes. 

21 (e) BIENNIAL STUDY OF AVERAGE AMOUNT OF INDI22 VIDUAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 (1) STUDY.—Not later than the end of the first 

24 quarter of the first full fiscal year beginning after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, and biennially 


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1 thereafter, the Administrator shall conduct a 

2 study— 

3 (A) to compare— 

4 (i) the average amount of individual 

5 assistance provided per person for each 

6 major disaster declared during the 5 most 

7 recently completed fiscal years; 

8 (ii) the average damages realized per 

9 individual for each such disaster; and 

10 (iii) for each event where a request for 

11 a major disaster declaration was denied 

12 during the 5 most recently completed fiscal 

13 years, the average damages realized per in14 dividual for each such event; and 

15 (B) to collect the data needed to update 

16 the table included after section 206.48(b)(6) of 

17 title 44, Code of Federal Regulations (relating 

18 to the average amount of individual assistance 

19 by State). 

20 (2) REPORT AND UPDATE.—Not later than 180 

21 days after the completion of each study under para22 graph (1), the Administrator shall submit to Con23 gress a report on the results of the study and update 

24 the table described in paragraph (1)(B). 


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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini2 tions shall apply: 

3 (1) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 102 of the Rob5 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As6 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

7 (2) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’ means an area 

8 that is located— 

9 (A) outside a metropolitan statistical area, 

10 as defined by the Office of Management and 

11 Budget; or 

12 (B) in a census tract in a metropolitan sta13 tistical area with a Department of Agriculture 

14 rural-urban commuting area code of 4 or high15 er. 

16 (3) SMALL STATE.—The term ‘‘small State’’ 

17 has the same meaning as such term is used in the 

18 table included after section 206.48(b)(6) of title 44, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations. 

Æ 


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